Centor: Custom Door Hardware Prototypes

Functional Rapid Prototyping

Centor develops custom integrated doors for residential and commercial buildings. Each unique design requires a proof of concept. Three in-house machinists used to spend all their time fabricating components in low volumes, with additional components being outsourced. This approach led to inconsistent quality, lengthy production times, and excess costs. Seeking an alternative, Group Manager of Product and Engineering David Chappell took a chance on Markforged and was immediately impressed: “It’s the first time I’ve ever actually seen a 3D printer do what it promised in a real-life design studio factory like ours. It just runs.”

While his team of experienced manufacturers intially expressed doubt about integrating 3D printing in their workflow, they now run the printer almost 24/7. It enabled them to redirect machining bandwidth, iterate on designs, learn quickly from printed parts, and present compelling proofs of concepts to customers. This in-house efficiency “takes out one blockage to innovation”. Centor further optimized their production by printing jigs and weatherproof end-use parts. They will soon have a Markforged printer in each of their four factories across Australia, China, Poland, and the US.